Russell Ovans Instructor, Computer Science Department

Born, raised, and educated on Canada's west coast - including a Ph.D. in computer science from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver - Russell Ovans was the founding CEO of social game studio Backstage Technologies. Before starting Backstage, he was the senior software engineer responsible for leading a team of developers at two successful Internet startups. After selling Backstage to RealNetworks in 2010, he briefly retired to Scotland where he spent a year visiting 365 different pubs. Upon his return to Victoria, he was an Executive-in-Residence at VIATeC, where he mentored software startup companies. An active angel investor, he is currently the majority owner of the Barkerville Brewing Company in Quesnel.

Dr. Ovans has taught software engineering at the University of Victoria and computer science at Camosun College off and on since 1996. He has published papers on such diverse fields as computer music, intelligent user interfaces, artificial intelligence, room acoustics, and software engineering. A pop culture junkie and frustrated musician, he is a self-proclaimed expert on early '80s British new wave. He lives in Victoria with his wife, two dogs, two cats, and three boomerang kids.

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